


untitled five

by thedarknesswithin (babylxxrry)



Series: untitled [5]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-06-17 00:27:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15449256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babylxxrry/pseuds/thedarknesswithin
Summary: insp.: e/l.sensory details drawn fr. p.exp.





	untitled five

**Author's Note:**

> insp.: e/l.  
> sensory details drawn fr. p.exp.

she pulls her hood up and presses her eyes closed, letting go of awareness and simply feeling everything touching her body.

her legs are crossed. the sole of her right shoe is digging into her left calf and the sole of her left shoe is digging into her right calf and her jeans are pulled tight across her knees. the button on her jeans is digging into her stomach but it’s not uncomfortable, just a slight, constant pressure. her shirt is wrinkled under her sweater but the sweater is soft against her arms and she lets her thoughts linger on that for a second, twisting the soft brush of fleece against skin into a caress, into his arms holding her tight and pressing all her scattered pieces back together.

the fleece on the inside of the hood brushes against her ears and she pulls the strings tight.

 _hush_.

the world around her gets softer, muffled by the sweater.

 _hush_.

a laugh breaks through, close to her left side. her friend. a murmur from her right. an acquaintance.

she shuts out the acquaintance and focuses on her friend’s laugh. fingers creep onto her back and drum an irregular pattern. her friend’s hand. unconscious, probably. each tap feels like a shock against her skin, even with the sweater in between. she blindly moves her hand to the left and taps. her friend’s hand stills and there’s a murmur before it disappears.

she breathes a little lighter without the weight.

the person on the right moves away, leaving a palpable chill behind. she shivers despite herself, wincing at the tiny stings of fleece over goosebumps. buries her face in her hands, presses hard against her eyelids until colors dance and swirl in the darkness.

a new presence settles close to her right. it’s warm and comes with his familiar scent. he’s the obscure brand of lotion she never remembers the name of, and he’s warm pine, and he’s just  a hint of stale city air, but he’s _him_ and she’s never been more relieved.

she raises her head but doesn’t open her eyes, cataloguing the rush of blood back to her eyelids. it’s hot and cold and uncomfortable and reassuring all at once.

he murmurs something that she doesn’t hear but she nods anyways because she trusts that he knows what she needs. she doesn’t even know what she needs right now, but she used to, and she told him a while ago. her mind is spinning with too many thoughts and she takes a deep breathe, exhaling forcefully through her mouth before she opens her eyes just a crack.

he meets her gaze, holds it steady for a moment before he drops it so she doesn’t get overwhelmed all over again.

she lets her hand fall to the floor between them, the polished wood smooth and cold against her palm. she digs her fingertips into the feeling, chasing the ease of a shiny, pretty mask to pull on instead of this messy façade. a hand creeps next to hers, one finger just barely touching her skin. she focuses all of her energy on that one point of contact, tuning out all her other senses until all she can feel is the single spot of warmth on the side of her hand.

his hand moves to cover hers, hidden in the shadow of their bodies. she focuses on each new millimeter of contact as he gently intertwines his fingers over hers, palm coming to rest against the back of her hand. she feels the too many sounds and touches and laughs and information she’s stored in her head start to melt away into her hand, like he’s taking a sponge and soaking it all up through her skin and pulling it away until her head clears enough for her to breathe evenly again. she looks up and the people milling around no longer have neon outlines. their footsteps no longer sound like thunder rumbling under her and up through her body. their voices are still too loud, too strident, too many, but it’s not nearly as bad as it was.

she takes another breath.

stares at him until he looks back up at her, and hopes her eyes can convey everything she can’t speak right now.

_thank you. thank you. you never have to, but you still do, and for that i am grateful._

she thinks he always gets it, though, because his hand tightens on top of hers for a moment and he smiles, small and soft. it’s a smile that belongs to her, and her alone.

 _i love you, you know that, right? i would do anything for you._ she can read his face almost as easily as she can a book, and this is a common response from him.

she smiles back at him, just a little, and he nods. squeezes her hand one more time before he stands and goes to talk to his other friends. he doesn’t glance back to check on her, because she knows he knows she’s okay now.

she tugs her hood off and turns to her left to jump into her friend’s conversation.

 

//


End file.
